Filing device



July w, 1923.

A. A. AINSWORTH FILING DEVICE Filed April 5, 1918 ATTORNEY Z reiterate M raises.

unite snares hdthhm PATENT QFFHQEO ALBERT A. AENSWORTH, F BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

FILING DEVICE.

Application filed April 5, 1918. Serial No. 226,865.

has been made for the permanent and systemw atic filing in a readily accessible manner of an extended series of original records, such as are formed, for instance, by the 1ndividual record slips or sheets thataresent in daily to a central ofi'ice by the members so of a corps of traveling salesmen. Such systems as have been heretofore devised have generally necessitated the detailed copyin of the daily records received by the centra ofiice at aconsiderable expense or, where any attempt has been made at filing the original records themselves, the .fihng has invariably, because of the great number of record slips involved, been conducted in such manner that it has been only with considerable difiiculty that a filed record sheet or I group of record sheets could be located and consulted for any purpose.

The present invention accordingly has for its principal object to provide improved means for permanently filing original record sheets in such manner that individual record sheets or oups of sheets can be referred to at any time with a minimum expenditure of time and efi'ort. 7

With this and other objects in view, one feature of the invention consists in the provision of a' filing holder formed of sheet material and having tabs formed in the body thereof to which individual record sheets at can be attached. p Another feature of the invention consists in providing a filing folder having the inner surface of the rear cover sheet formed to support a pluralit of individual record to sheets arranged in aterally extended order.

Still another feature of the invention consists in the provision of a file holder formed of sheet material having a plurality of substantially parallel incisions therein in which individual record sheets can be inserted to lie in superposed and laterally extended relation along the face of said sheet.

Other features of the invention will be hereinafter described.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a device embodying a preferred form of the invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged view in front elevation of the rear cover sheet of the device and showing a double series of record slip holding tabs formed therein and having a number of slips attached in place.

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view in detail taken along the line 33 of Figure 2. and showing the manner in which the record slips are mounted on the holding tabs.

Figure 4 is a detached view of a portion of the reverse side of the record holding device showing the gummed tabs and further showing the manner in which the rec- 0rd slips are attached thereto.

InFigu'rel on the drawing there is shown in erspective a view of my improved filing device which will be seen to consist ofa simple folder 1 of any desired size and shape and made of any suitable material such as paper of a substantial and durable grade. The folder 1 consists of a front cover sheet 2 and a rear cover sheet 3 havmg a hinged relation to each other and 7 adapted to swing about the pivot line 4 in a well-known manner.

In order to adapt the folder to serve as apermanent holder for a series of record -sl1ps or sheets and in a position in which they will be readily accessible at all times, the rear cover sheet 3 is provided with one or more groups of slits or incisions of such formation as to form sheet-holding tabs 5 directly in the material of which the rear cover sheet is composed. These tabs are preferably arranged in two substantially parallel groups 6 and 7 the individual tabs in both groups extending in regular succession from positions adjacent one of the lateral edges substantially at the center of the sheet. The tabs are preferably gummed on the reverse side, as is indicated at 8 in the detailed view of a portion of the reverse side shown in Figure 4 of'the drawing, in order to provide means for attaching the inofthe cover sheets to points dividual record slips 9 thereto as they are received day by day from the traveling representative of the oflioa' It will be seen that as each individual record slip 9 is received, it is a simple matter to slip one end of it underneath the next available tab and to attach the under,

rangement resides in gummed side 8 of the tab to the upper surface of the record slip. Thus, as the record slips are attached in succession tothe holding tabs they will finally assume a superimposed and progressively laterally offset position, such as is best shown by the" ap pearance of the upper filled tab group 6 in Figure 2 of the drawing. By this arrangement the record slips are permanently mounted in such relation to each other and to the folder in which they are mounted that any particular slip can be very quickly referred to. -A. further advantage of this arthe distribution of the slips in such a manner that they do not form a comparatively thick ,pad of sheets having a restricted lateral area that would be likely to give rise to difficulty in filing. On the contrary the record slips, which are preferably cut to an appropriate size to form a pad that can be conveniently carried in the pocket, are progressively arranged in such a way as to occupy substantially the entire width of a standard size correspondence filing folder, so that the manner in which they are mounted is a most convenient one for filing purposes.

The purpose of arranging both groups of tabs in horizontal series extending from one edge, preferably the right-hand one as shown, will now be clear.- The individual record 'slips,'as will be seen, are substantially equal in length to one-half the width of the folder, so that the first slip mounted on the first tab atthe left hand end of either series and extending to the left will lie wholly within the left-hand margin of the folder. The slips will therefore not only lie within the margins of the folder 4 but they will occupy substantially all the lateral area of the folder and present a relatively flat formation that reatly facilitates the filing function. 'v fiiile the preferred arrangement of the slips is in horizontally arranged series as shown, it is obvious that the slips could be arranged in yertical series where circumstances so required--v without departing from the; spirit of the invention. Advantage has also been taken of the fact that by providing two groups of tabs as indicated at 6 and 7, the filing folder can be adapted to accommodate a months supply of daily record slips, so that each file when completed. yvill constitute a complete re ort for one month of, for instance, the journeys made and the expenses incurred by any given salesman. The daily record menace the outside only can be readily consulted and any desired slip referred to at any time but, in addition, the arrangement is a most advantageous one for filing purposes, as has already been pointed out. The arrangement 'of the record slips in filing folders each ofwhich is devoted to a definite period of time, such as one month, is also of advantage in other ways, an instance of which is the help afforded a new salesman in that he is provided with not only the seasonal and monthly, but also the daily travel record of his predecessor so that he can easily arrange a routing itinerary by which he can efficiently cover the territory assigned to him. While the file holder has been referred to throughout the. application as being arranged to have the record slips permanently attached to the holding tabs, it is, of course, obvious that the holder can also be used to temporarily hold such slips, the slips being merely slipped into place beneath the tabs for this purpose and as easily removed when desired.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A folder of the vertical filing type, one of the leaves thereof having gummed tabs formed therein for holding a series of record sheets in laterally extended order, saiifl tabs being joined at their ends to the lea 2'. folder of the vertical filing ,type, one of the leaves thereof havin' gummed tabs formed in the body thereo for holding a series of record sheets in a relatively horizontally displaced order, said tabs being gummed on their under surfaces.

3,-A' filing folder formed of sheet material and havlng tabs provided in the body of the rear leaf for holding a seriesof record sheets in a laterally extended order, said tabs being joined at their ends to the leaf and means permanently attaching the record sheets to the tabs.

4:. A filing folder formed of sheet material and having a plurality of incisions forming tabs in the rear leaf, said incisions terminating within the boundaries of the sheet,

and said tabs being gummed on their under surfaces and arranged in a laterally extended order,

5.' A filing folder formed of sheet material andhaving a plurality of series of recemma 0rd sheet-holding means arranged to hold a plurality of series of record sheets in a superposed flat and laterally extended position between the leaves of the folder.

6. A folder of the vertical filing type formed of sheet material and having a double series of record sheet-holding tabs formed therein and arranged to permanently hold a double series of record sheets in a substantiall flat position with relation to .the surface 0 said sheet material.

2 faces of said folder.

8. A filing folder formed of sheet material and having a series of record slip hold- I ing tabs formed on the inner face-of the rear cover sheet, and extending in progressive order substantially from a margin of said folder to the central portion thereof, whereby a series of record slips attached to said tabs will extend substantially across the entire width of said inner face of the rear cover sheet. t

9. A filing folder havin means for permanently mounting a dou 1e series of individual record slips in a parallel and laterally extended relation therein, and recordreceivingmeans on the front face of said folder on which the individual records on said record sli s can be summarized.

Signed at ew York, in the county of New York, and State of New York, this 28th day of Feb, 1918.

a ALBERT A. AINSWORTH. 

